HST5360 - Violence and Modernity in Twentieth Century India

This module provides an introduction to modern Indian history through the thematic of violence and its relationship to politics and social change. Interrogating India's momentous twentieth century - from the dawn of mass anti-colonial politics to the independent state's emergence as global power - students will explore how the triumphant story of Gandhian satyagraha and postcolonial democracy is shadowed throughout by a 'history of violence'. We will consider how critics and advocates of violence negotiate and respond to developments in modern technology - from bombs and trains to nuclear power and the internet.